Business View Magazine - Nov 2023

90 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 11 to promote investment in 21st-century transmission infrastructure that enhances reliability, improves efficiency, and delivers more low-cost clean energy,” he informs. “The United States must build out its transmission system to better connect the nation’s rich renewable energy resources to the population centers with the greatest electricity demand.” He cites a recent study by Princeton University that shows that the IRA could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about one billion tons annually by 2030 if the United States will more than double the pace of transmission expansion from the last decade. On the flip side, more than 80 percent of potential emission reductions from the IRA in 2030 would be lost, should transmission expansion continue at the current pace of about one percent of growth per year. As an ACORE program, the initiative develops research to identify solutions to expanding the United States’ transmission capacity and convenes regulators, renewable, storage, and transmission companies, and other leading grid experts to help implement these solutions, as Wetstone points out. He also spoke of ACORE’s annual forums, specifically the ACORE Grid Forum, which took place recently on Oct. 11 in Arlington, Va. “ACORE’s events provide important virtual and live venues for attendees to network with leading experts in the field,” says Wetstone, “while gaining valuable insights on the policies, financial trends, and grid issues most pertinent to the renewable energy sector. Our signature forums include the ACORE Policy Forum in the spring, the ACORE Finance Forum in the summer, and the ACORE Grid Forum in the fall.” At the ACORE Grid Forum, speakers addressed the near-term gaps and long-term priorities for grid infrastructure to maximize the deployment of renewable energy.